Comic-Con 2012: Disney Surprises With ‘Lone Ranger’ Footage

Disney delivered a surprise when Comic-Con attendees were treated to a sudden sneak peek at the footage from The Lone Ranger, and we caught every second of it.

The first look compiled footage from the movie that’s, amazingly, still in production. Set to a grand voiceover that muses on of a world where “time and space [is] under the mastery of man,” the montage opens with wide vistas the American West, a train barreling towards an old timey town. There’s a lot of action — the town appears under attack, with explosions and flying train parts flying every which way. We see a boy throw a bullet into the air. Who is at the other end? Editing masks the truth, but the next thing we see is the big surprise: Johnny Depp as Tonto!

Depp picks up the voiceover: “There comes a time khemosabi when good men must wear mask.” Appropriate, as we next week Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger. Shots from Gore Verbinski’s Western blockbuster flash by at lightning speed: Helena Bonham Carter in period costume, Tonto riding underneath a speeding train, Lone Ranger galloping on horseback. The action is big, in the vein of Pirates of the Caribbean, and Depp’s Tonto looks equally as kooky and scene-stealing. The final image is the film’s logo, a raven acting as a mask for Depp’s eyes over the title. Though production had a few bumps along the way, a budget in question, and plenty of skeptics, Lone Ranger just proved itself one to watch in 2013.